stebbins



(No Model.) 2 Si Leets -Sheet 1.

T. STEBBINS 8; J. R. MIQDONALD. UIBGULAR ASSEMBLING DEVICE FOR'FOLDING MACHINES" tav rns TIMOTHY S'll lliillNS AND JAMES R.

Parent rrrcnt MCDONALD, h Ji-lIOAGO, ILLINOIS,

OF HAM E liiAt it.

CiRCULAR-ASSEMBMNG DEVICE FQR FOLDlN G-MACl-HNES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 460,165, dated September 29, 1891.

Application filed June 16, 1883 To aZZ 2072 0712 it may concern:

Be it known that we, 'lrnornv S'rnnmns and. James it. itioDoNaLo, citizens of the United States, residing at ("hicago, in the county-0t Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in Circntar-Assembling Devices for Folding- Machines, of which the following is a specilieation.

-labor.

lleretofore the assemblage and nesting of printed matter in circular form preparatory to folding the same and inserting it in envelopes has been entirely done by manual This method is bothslow and expensive and subject to all the diliicultics, disadvantages, and tendencies to error which work of that or analogous clmract'er is liable to when performed by human hand.

The object of ourimention is to provide mechanism for assembling or nesting doubleletter, letter, and note size circulars, cards, return-envelopes, the, preparatory to delivering the same to a folding-machine in such manner that such assembled matter can be conveniently, neatly, and quickly tolded ready for envelopes, all as hereinafter fullyv explained,and as illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying our in"ention. Fig. 2 is a longi; tudiiial vertical section thereof. Fig. :3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the correspondinglyn umber-ed line in the ti rst figure. Fig. :i: represents in side elevation the end of thetablo,togetl1cr with elongated delivcryways by which material having received a prc 'iaratoiy fold may be discharged upon the assembling mechanism. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of said ways, and Figs. l3 and 7 are details of the assembling-ohmns.

A represents a tableor platform consisting of two parallel wings separated a suitable distance and supported and maintained in thei' relative positions by underlaid crossrails l3, which have their upper edges botween the wings cut; away to a lower horizontal plane. Secured to these sunken edges of the cross-railsis' the floor of the way upon which the matter to be folded or in part al- Serial No. 277,374. (No model.

ready t'olded is delivered and assembled and central strip Z), parallel with each other. Se-

cured to and rising from the outer edges of the side strips, adjacent to the contiguous wings of the table, are guards c, which form the walls of the way and by the adjustment of said strips may be brought nearer to or separated farther from each other, according to the size of the material being assembled, so as to guide said material and prevent it from twisting or becoming awry as it is carried along the way, or getting outof register, so as to interfere with the proper nesting or assembling of subsequentmaterial therewith or with the action of the folding-machine.

The strips forming the floor of the way are so spaced as Ito-leave between them two Iongitudii'ial slots, one between each edge of the central and the antiposed edge of the adjacent side strip. The material is carried for ward by means of feed-fingers which rise. vertically throi-lgh the longitudinal slots left between thecentll'al and side strips of the tloor of the way and travel therealong abreast of each other, so as to rake or push the material delivered to said way toward and to the folding-machine; but such fingers and their mode of operation will be described and explained more fully hereinafter.

U C represent feed-shelves, consist in g of sections, according to the number of rakingtecth abreast, numbered 1, 2, and 3, respectively, section 1 being secured to the transverse brace d, the ends of which rest upon and are fastened to the wings of the table in such manner as to bridge ovcrthe way. Sec- Lions 2 and 23 of said shelves are arranged 1ongitudinally,one on each side ot' the central section, and in the present instance may be considered suitably fastencdto the guards ot' the side-strips ot the liner of the way. The soaces between the sections correspond with the spaces between the strips of the flooring, so that the teeth above mentioned maysweep through such spaces as they pass along the Way,-and the incline of the shelves is in the edge .of one shelf comes below the plane of the under surface of the higher edge of the next following shelf, or so that two parallel planes may touch the one thelower edges and the other the highei' edges of all the by suitable power, the other set being idle.

At the delivery end of the belts shelves, although such uniformity of height 18 not strictly essential. Thus as the fingers move through the slots between the floorstrips they rake the paper material, usually circulars ofletter-or note size, or cards or return-envelopes, which? are fed from the wings of, the table upon said delivery in- .clines or shelves by attendants as fast as need be to keep the machine supplied, off of the shelves one at a time, and so'tha't the niaterial raked from the second shelf falls upon or-isnested in the material just before raked from the first, and the material from the third shelf is received-on .topof that already assembled, and so on, according to the number of shelves, when finally all the material thus assembled will be delivered in such condition shelves from the piles lying; before'them'on to the folding-machine. r

The feed-fingers D, referred to as projecting upwardzthrongh the slotsbetwee'n the.

flooring-slats, reach toa point. just above the horizontal plane of the upper surface of the table, which will advisabl-y be practically flush with the most elevated part of the feed shelves and above the top of the body thereof, so that the attendants can readily slip the printed matter orcirculars piece by piece upon the the table. To accommodate said fingers, so-

that they may certainly reach and efiectually sweep the printed matterfrom the shelves, the braces which bridgethe ways and sup-- port the central sections of the shelves. are arched or bowed *abo'vethe slots or intersec-v tional. spaces. through which said fingers move, as shown in thethird figure of the drawings, thus allowing the fingers from the out-. set to project slightly above the high-est plane of the shelves. Said feed-fingers are bifursated at their lower ends,fand the extremities of their bifurcations are jou rnaled in the lugs e, arising from the horizontal wings e", projecting transversely from the side bars of certain of the links of the chain belts E, as shown. In order to keep these feed-fingers in a vertical position, of the bifurcations thereof with a stop-finger e'i, which strikes against and is stopped by the periphery of the lug e "and prevents the finger from oscillating forward and beyond the I proper limit, and arrange a coiled spring F 'upon and surrounding the other bifurcation, one end of which spring is secured to one of the wings'e of the chain-link carrying the finger and the other to said finger in such manner as to u rge-it forward against thestop, butpermit it to yield to the rear when meetwe provide the extremity of one mg an obstruction, returning it immediately to its normal vertical'position upouthe re sistance being removed. The belts E, which carry these feed-fingers, are A and run the entire length of the platform immediately the floor ofthe way. sprocket-wheels f, mounted upon shaftsiat each end of the way, and are actuated by one setof these sprocket-wheels, which is'driven carried by themalong'the ways may be delivered to a pair of tape-rollers f and car;

ried by tapes therefrom to the folding-mar chine, and these rollers will be' necessarily close to the spr0cket-wheels around which the belt passes,

and will therefore be struck by will yield, as

the feed-teeth, which, however,

this ob already explained, until they'pass 'two' inanumber' under and parallel with the slots in These belts run over the material f struction, and then will swing back to their i normal position, shelves as they return to the upper plyof the chains. If, however,

ready to again sweep the there are no obstruc-' tions in the'way of these feed-teeth, it is evi-' dent that theyneed not be so attached to their belts as to fold back or knuckle.

The operation of the machine so far as d'e scribed is substantially as follows:, Theprinted'matter is'placed in stacks or piles in suchposition that it canbe i upon the table conveniently grasped by the operator, by whom it isplaced, one or more circulars at a time, upon the inclined shelves. travel through the slots inclines are approached, so that said circulars come successively one on The fingers,continuing ontheir movements toward. the folding-machine, sweep the as-' The fingers. in thefloor of the way and rake the circulars, one a'tatime, from the inclines in the order in which said too top of the-other.

times itlis desired to inclose one or morebusiness' or advertising cards in the folded ci'r-. cular which would be too small when placed in the proper position to be caught and pushed along :by the delivery-fingers to "the folding-machine'. We provide for such an emergency by cutting a rectangularpiece j from the central section of one or all of the inclines, making an opening F, the transverse edge of' which nearest the brace 03 is beveled. Wedrop the card or cards so that one 'end rests upon the bevel edge and so that the other rests in a transverse groove g inthe central strip of the way. vanced edge of the assembled matter which is being pushed along by. the delivery-fingers strikes the end ofthe card resting in the groove g it draws the card onto the center of -matte'r to be folded',;so that when the folding operation takes'place'said card isinclosed with the same; It is sometimes advisable, in

' Thus when the adorder to prevent the matter to be folded from deflecting toone' sidewhile being carried by the tapes to and under-the folding-blades or structed other devices of the machine, to provide the QXlLBIl'SlOl'l ways or chutes G. These chutes are preferably made of sheet metal and have their outer edges 72 flanged upward to' as guides and guards and are secured to and form longitudinal extensions of the side strips of the floor of the way. The journals of the tape-rollers are usually lessin diameter than the body, thus forming ashoulder with said body. instead, therefore, of cutting away the vertical flanges 72. of the ways or chutes where the y pass said rollers, we make said vertical flanges of such height that they shall rise pastthe shoulders thus formed of the upper--- most tape-roller until they touch or about touch the journals, thus cutting off the foldinc; matter as it passes between the; rollers from lateral dis iilacement.

if the assembling and feeding devices just explained supply the matter to a second course of tapes and there is an independent course of 'tapes'at a higher level for assembling and folding a double-shect-sized circular and nesting it with the other matter, then the flanged edges of the chutes, after they pass the transverse plane determined by the folding-rollers l of such upper course of tapes, rise snlliciently higher to serve a guide for the entire accumulated matter delivered by;

both courses of tapes, substantiallyas shown in Figs. -.5 and of the drawings.

It i'- -';ossiblc, although not desirable, to dispn L, entirely with the inclined shelves. In thi vent the circulars would have-to be deposited upon the lloor of the way in front of the dcliwrylingers, one on top of the other, by hand. 'lhiswi'inld require considerable r. ability; but it could be done, since ll feedstabhj extends level and unobpractically the whole length of tho way an'l permits trm or more ll'lifil'ttll-OYS to feed )l?'i. :tlCCG,.. vc stacks. li')\' ;u.rds thisthe sinking of the guidcway untteriully ccntril utes, Elf-i mo circulars or other material to be folded can be stacked upon the wings of the -fccd-tnblo and deftlyswcpt'off one by one in advance ofthe fowl-fingers.

o! the way or channel into which the ma or is need and a -mb cd being located below plane of tire table, itmay he raised t the m plane as or above said table. ruotion is a mere ruicstiou e l-S2 'What we claim aspour i-nrcntion, and desire to secure by Letters 'lizittenlgiis 1. The combination, substantially heroinbcforc set forth, with. the grrildcway provided with lateral guards, of deliver, dinge'rs side guards to said channel or way and de livery-fingers moving longitudinally in and along said sunken way and between the lateral guards thereof.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed-table and guidcway, of a shelf placed over the guideway and i'leliveryhugers traversing said way and arranged to sweep said shelf of its load, whereby the latter is deposited in the guideway and carried there'along by said fingers.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbcforc set forth, with the feed-table and guideway, of a series of shelves placed over the guideway, one in advance of another, and delivery-lingers traversing: said guideway and arranged to sweep each shelf in succession of its load, whereby the material received from the shelves assembled and piled.

J. The combination, substantially as hereinbeforc set forth, with a feed-table and guideway, of a series of shelves placed over the guidcway, one in ad van-"c of another, and hav-- ing longitudinal slots thcrethrou'gh parallel with the length of the guidcwa-y, and deliverytingers traversing said guideway and projectinc up through said slots above the surface of said shelvcs,whereby they sweep the shelves successively and collect and assemble the material laid thereon.

7. The combination, substantiz'illy' as hereinbefore' set forth, with a feed-table and a guideway having longitudinal slots through its bottom, of a shelf or shelves placed over the guideway and having slots therethrough corresponding with the slots in the bottomrof said guideway, and delivery-fingers moving along and projecting up through the slots 1n the gnideway and in the shelf or shelves to sweep the latter of the material laid thereon and carry it along the guideway.

8. The combination, substantially as hereinbcforc set forth, with. a food-table and a guide way or channel provided with lateral guards and having a transverse notch at a point in its length, of a shelf bridging the channel above said notch and having an opening through its body to admit a card, and carrying and delivery fingers moving along said channel or way.

i). The combination, substantially as here-' guideway having a transverse notch in its bottom,.of a series of shelves placed over the guideway, one in advance of another, and one of .which is placed above said notch and provided with an opening directly thereover to admit a card, and delivery-fingerstravels ing said guideway and arranged to sweep each shelf in succession of its 'lo'ad ,and carry it along, whereby the assembled material car: ried before the fingers will strikeand carry along the card introduced through said opengi r TO. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed-table and the sunken guideway, of the sectional shelves ar-' ranged above said guideway, thebraces bridging the guideway and. arch ed or bowed above the spaces between the sections of said shelves,

and the delivery'fingers traversing said guideway and projecting up into the arches of said braces and sweeping through theslots between said sections.

11. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed-table, of the guideway having parallel movable flooringsections on each side thereof provided with lateral guards, means whereby said sections may be adjusted toward and from each other,

and delivery-fingers traversing said guideway longitudinally thereofbetween said sec tions.

12. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed-table, of the guideway having a central longitudinal flooring-section and parallel movable flooring-sections on each side thereof provided with lateral guards, means whereby said side sections may be adjusted toward and from each other, and delivery-lingers traversing said guideway longitudinally thereof.

13. The combination, substantially as here inbefore set forth, with the table-wings, of

- the transverse rails uniting them and cut to oscillate yieldingly to the rear.

15. The combination, substantially as hereinb'efore setforth, with the table-Wings, of the transverse rails uniting said wings and cut away to a lower-plane between them, the longitudinal central and side flooring-strips secured to said rails, the inclined shelves arranged transversely above said flooring-strips,

the delivery-fingers moving along the slots-or openings between said strips, the endless belts; v

carryingsaid fingers, and the pivotal stop and spring" connection between said fingers and belts.

16. The combination, substantially as hereinbetore set fortl'nwith the feed-table and the-" the delivery-fingers moving along said guide Way and sweeping said shelves, and the .taperollers to which said fced-fingers deliver, the assembled material. a

17. The combination, substantially as here guidewaywith itslateral guards, of theshelv'es,

inbefore set forth, with the feed-table and-,1

guideway provided with lateral guards, of

shelves placedabove said guideway, deliveryfingers moving along said gu idewayand sweep.

ing said shelves of the material placed there? on, and the extension ways or chutes. 18. The combination,substantially as here- 5 inbefore set forth, with the feed-table and 'guideway provided with lateral guards, of the delivery-fingers movingalong said guideway, f the extension-way having lateral guards, and I the transverse folding-rollers placed above said extension way. f

.19. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed-table and guideway provided with lateral guards, of the delivery-fingers moving along said guideway,.

a pair of transverse folding-rollers, and an ex tension-way leading beneath the folding-roll ers and provided with lateral guards increased in height beyond said rollers. r

20. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the feed-table and guideway provided with lateral guards, of

shelves placed above said guideway, deliveryfingers movingalong said guidewayand sweeping said shelves of. the material placed-thereon, the tape-rollers to which said fingers deliver the assembled material, and the extension ways or chutes.

21. The combination,substantially as hereinbefore set forth,of the table, the guideway, the assembling and delivering fingers, the tape-rollers towhich they deliver, and the extension ways or chutes having lateral guard.- flanges setting up'past the ends of the uppermost tape roller and toward the journals thereof. i

IIO

22. The combination,substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the table, the guideway,

the delivery-fingersmoving along said guideway, the tape-rollers to which they deliver,

the extension -way having lateral guard flanges, and the folding-rollers located above said extension-way and transversely thereof.

TIMOTHY t" EBBINS.

JAll'lES R. MoDONALD.

Witnesses:

FRANK l). HENRY U.

'lnoMAsoN, N ovns. 

